production - (economics) manufacturing or mining or growing something (usually in large quantities) for sale; "he introduced more efficient methods of production"

placer mining - mining valuable minerals from a placer by washing or dredging

opencast mining, strip mining - the mining of ore or coal from an open mine

bore-hole, drill hole, bore - a hole or passage made by a drill; usually made for exploratory purposes

heading, drift, gallery - a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine; "they dug a drift parallel with the vein"

fathom, fthm - (mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore

rag - break into lumps before sorting; "rag ore"

hush - run water over the ground to erode (soil), revealing the underlying strata and valuable minerals

hush - wash by removing particles; "Wash ores"

mine - get from the earth by excavation; "mine ores and metals"

strip mine, surface mine, surface-mine - extract (ore) from a strip-mine

drive - excavate horizontally; "drive a tunnel"

extract - separate (a metal) from an ore

defensive measure, defense, defence - military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies; "they died in the defense of Stalingrad"; "they were developed for the defense program"